There are some really awesome moves in the game that a lot of players end up unlocking
Tackle, slash, thrash, stomp, double-edge, etc.
These attacks are all really great techniques that can be viable during your entire playthrough
However, they all have one thing in common:
they're all normal type.
And this isn't a bad thing.
The vast majority of the most viable builds in the meta got to where they are because of how good their normal-type moves are
But today we're going to push past the normal-type moves and analyze the other possibilities that exist:
the elemental moves.
While they take a huge amount of evolution points to spec into,
the meta right now is pretty much centered around normal-type moves
And as a result, resistance to elemental-type attacks is generally almost nonexistent
With that said, let's get into it
So probably the most popular example of this is the electric eel
Just like its name implies, it forgoes the popular choices of fins, teeth, and, well, really any aesthetics at all
And sinks all of its evolution points into a single, signature move:
Discharge
This electric-type attack is a short-range AoE burst move that can be used both offensively and defensively
It's damage scales inversely with the target's size
So while it can insta-gib entire parties of fish, most larger builds will walk away with only minimal HP loss
That is, unless it crits and prompts cardiac arrest or seizure
Since this move can be used both on offense and defense,
And has almost no counter-play besides just tanking it and trying to escape
I rank the electric eel as A tier
Held back from S Tier only by its low intelligence and low mobility due to lack of strong fins
Next up, we have a group of fish players who traded HP, strength, and defense
For one of the only range attacks in the game: the archerfish
Archerfish can use the move watergun;
This move doesn't do much damage,
but it has a high chance of knocking small targets off their feet,
Which can, of course, combo straight into pretty much anything
In order to actually spec into this move, not only do these players need to invest in the structural evolution required to cast this ability,
But they also had to greatly increase their intelligence in order to be able to aim their shots
Connecting a hit with this move requires you to intuit how far away your target is
How much force is needed to knock it down,
And also gauge how much distortion effect of light refraction
While this is all very impressive, personally I don't see archerfish as exceptionally viable in the meta
For a few reasons
Most importantly, this ability has no defensive use in a meta where defense is extremely important
Furthermore, this ability requires a player to camp at the surface of the water
Which is precisely where you don't want to be
If you're playing on the same server as eagles, hawks, and other high-tier aerial builds
With all this considered, I'd put the archerfish at the top of C Tier
Ranged attacks are extremely effective, but you need a solid foundation for them to really excel
If you're looking for a good ranged ability, be sure to watch my video on optimizing snakes
Or if you're picky enough that you want an aquatic build with ranged or elemental abilities,
Definitely research the orca
A build so incredibly overpowered that I'm just going to need to make an entirely seprarate video on them
The last build that I want to talk about today possesses an explosive fire-type move
The bombardier beetle
This is an example of sometimes there are abilites that are worth going through an entire skill tree of boring and weak abilities just to get to
In this case, the beetle players who unlock this ability had to spec deep into the chemistry tree
Which is pretty much all composed of gross and unappealing powers like skunk smells and anti-debuff agents
Most insect players do spend a few points here and unlock 1 or 2 abilities in this tree
However, if you unlock enough of these at the same time,
They can be simultaneously used to produce a completely different move
One of the only fire-type moves available in the entire game:
Fire blast
This can, of course, inflict a burn,
which both does damage and inflicts its target with a serious debuff
To many important stat modifiers like the immune system
But really, all of those effects are just icing on the cake
All these players really need this ability for is to escape disadvantageous situations
Either by blinding the enemy, or causing them to flinch so they miss their chance to attack
Since beetles are already minimum B Tier,
I would say that this excellent defensive move firmly puts them in A Tier
Kept out of S Tier because they still lack the most powerful insect-exclusive ability in the game
which I'll cover in another video
Anyways, in summary, elemental-type attacks are costly
So you really need to weigh your options and plan out your build in advance before you attempt them
New players are almost always better off sticking to good all-around builds
Like the bear, iguana, and boar
But if you're clever about it, you can really get some amazing gameplay out of these unique abilities